This website explains that a massive open online course is a large-scale online course that is designed so that anyone on the web can have access to learning. Course schedules are made in a "fluid structure" so the student can choose the amount of participation they would like to partake in. It is a recent development in education and the website says it can often make some people uneasy. It is, however, reinventing the relationship between the instructor and the student as well as changing the way people have access to education.
This article presents these free online courses to be a reinvention of the way people learn. Certain courses from Duke, Stanford, Harvard, and MIT are given to the public free of change. These mass courses allow for individuals who attended little to no college expand their education at their pace. The courses let the students reorganize their lesson plan and permits students to structure the lesson plans of the course according to their needs. Another great thing is that these users remain anonymous and doesn't force a people to regularly take the courses. The courses are self paced and allow students to further their education free of cost so it is always benefiting students who are in a financial bind without putting more stress on their pocketbooks.
The American Council on Education has recently agreed to review 5 to 10 MOOCs as an experiment project to see if they could possibly be included in the council's College Credit Recommendation Service.
A company that hosts MOOCs. A number of universities have recently signed partnerships with Coursera.
July 2012
Challenges:
- Participants need to be able to regulate their own learning and give yourself goals in order to achieve, which is difficult for many people.
- You have to be digitally literate.
- It can feel chaotic to some since you have to create your own schedule, pace, etc...
- Some have trouble learning in a non-physical environment.
- The courses does not include territory-specific needs and local issues.
When MOOCs Go Bad http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2013/02/06/when-moocs-go-bad/
Because the courses are taught by college professors the language used can sometimes be difficult to understand because these courses are just recording of class and are not formated to individuals that have not had any post high school education. Classes may also be poorly organized and can be sporadic when it comes to uploading lectures. Individuals may have a lesson one week and then not recieve a new lecture until three or four weeks later. It is also difficult for students to distinguish whether or not a professor is credible or not. Technical issues are quite frequent when it comes to these courses and because the courses are provided by a university or maintained by a professor, the student must wait until the provider notices the problem.
Are These Courses the Real Deal? http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/10/05/why-moocs-wont-replace-traditional-instruction-essay
Although these massive online courses are good for allowing a new group of people to enjoy higher education, it could be hurting them.
Courses may be out of date
The professor may not be well qualified
The ability to interact with the professor is very limited
Registration for the courses is extremely faulty and often allow too many people to take the course causing the course/website to crash
Massively Open Online Courses
Challenges:
- Participants need to be able to regulate their own learning and give yourself goals in order to achieve, which is difficult for many people.
- You have to be digitally literate.
- It can feel chaotic to some since you have to create your own schedule, pace, etc...
- Some have trouble learning in a non-physical environment.
- The courses does not include territory-specific needs and local issues.
When MOOCs Go Bad
http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2013/02/06/when-moocs-go-bad/
Because the courses are taught by college professors the language used can sometimes be difficult to understand because these courses are just recording of class and are not formated to individuals that have not had any post high school education. Classes may also be poorly organized and can be sporadic when it comes to uploading lectures. Individuals may have a lesson one week and then not recieve a new lecture until three or four weeks later. It is also difficult for students to distinguish whether or not a professor is credible or not. Technical issues are quite frequent when it comes to these courses and because the courses are provided by a university or maintained by a professor, the student must wait until the provider notices the problem.
Are These Courses the Real Deal?
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/10/05/why-moocs-wont-replace-traditional-instruction-essay
Although these massive online courses are good for allowing a new group of people to enjoy higher education, it could be hurting them.